Hiroshima Commemorative Coins

A special commemorative 500 yen coin is released this week to mark the 60th anniversary of the Local Autonomy Law (地方自治法) of 1947.

The law, also known as Law No. 67, established Japan’s post-war system of local government structures. Just the kind of thing local government structures, to the delight of coin and stamp collectors, love to celebrate.

The 60th anniversary was actually in 2007, but the Japan Mint has been issuing a series commemorative coins [ja] for each of the nation’s 47 to, dō, fu and ken, batch by batch since 1997 and will continue to do so until all districts are covered in 2016. Each prefecture gets two issues and a commemorative coin featuring Itsukushima Shrine was released back in May. The second one, released this week, features the A-bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Park.

The coin is available at banks from today (July 17), and coin collectors will also be able to exchange limited numbers of the coins at public facilities such as Shukkei-en Garden, the Peace Memorial Museum and the Rest House tourist information center from July 18.